Green Tea with D Man

Episode 1.9 covers Portugal's role in the Second World War with a focus on how Antonio Salazar managed to keep Portugal neutral whilst stuck between a rock (Allies) and a hard place (Nazi Germany).

Tiny Portugal longed for respect and influence as she had demonstrated during her heyday in the Age of Exploration. Under Antonio Salazar's guiding hand, Portugal would prove to punch above her own weight as Germany and Italy attempted to woo her into the Axis orbit, and the British figured out they actually had to treat her with respect and an equal. This episode covers some of the diplomatic moves concerning Portugal between 1936 and August 1939, as the dark clouds formed in Europe and it was clear that a storm was gathering.

Just as the Great Depression railroaded Antonio Salazar's economic efforts, the Spanish Civil War sent his diplomatic efforts into overdrive. Tiny Portugal spent the years of 1936-1939 trying to chart a pro-Portugal foreign policy while showing its longtime British ally that Salazar was able to punch above his weight. Between surviving assassination attempts, containing the civil war in Spain, and diplomatic hoola-hoops, Antonio Salazar was a man set on a mission.

Every government relies on a protective structure to defend itself against its enemies, be they foreign or domestic, and Portugal under Antonio Salazar was no different. In this episode we will talk about the major intelligence and security organizations of the Estado Novo as well as the legal methods used to keep its enemies at bay.

Second supplement to episode 1.5. In this episode I conduct a reading of the second part of the New State Constitution of 1933.